Movies: The trashy, the obscure and the great

No movies to comment on today, but I got a treat in the mail today: MST3K vs. Gamera. Unlike the typical 4-DVD set, this one has 5 DVDs, all featuring Gamera movies: Gamera, Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs, Gaos, Gamera vs. Guiron and Gamera vs. Zigra.

Having gone through most of the Godzilla movies in 2010, this will be an interesting compare-and-contrast exercise. Gamera came from a different studio (Daiei) than Godzilla (Toho), making an all-out battle between the two impossible. Also, Gamera (like Toho’s Mothra) was a benevolent monster (the “friend of all children”) and aimed for a younger audience than Godzilla, whose attitude towards humanity often fluctuated. I think it is safe to say that Godzilla does have the stronger “family” of monsters, including Mothra, Rodan, a version of King Kong and, of course, King Ghidorah. Unfortunately, Godzilla is the only one saddled with a feeble America version (aka Fraudzilla).